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Saturday, April 7, 2012

Ryan Dickens fell in love with Hawaii on his first trip. He loved every aspect, especially the food. The first time, he saw people eating shave ice, he thought, like every haole (non-local), that shave ice was a snow cone – crunchy, granular ice with a slight sweetness. Shave ice is totally different. It’s a heavenly, finely shaved ice that absorbs the syrups that you add to it. You can see the difference when they make it. It comes off of a huge ice block with sharp blades shaving off thin layers of ice. The ice is packed into a round globe-like shape (with or without ice cream inside) and syrup is layered on top. You can also add toppings like azuki beans or sweetened condensed milk.

During Ryan’s wife pregnancy, she had a really bad craving for shave ice. The closest shave ice place to Orange County is in Gardena. It’s almost an hour long drive to get there. This gave Ryan the idea of bringing shave ice closer for the OC with two locations in Fullerton (July 2011) and Yorba Linda (September 2011). The stores are not your typical shave ice place. In Hawaii, shave ice “shacks” are usually on the side of the road, and while some might have a few benches, usually there is nowhere to sit. The locals either stand around ‘talking story’ as they eat or sit in the car with the doors open or lean against the car so the shave ice doesn’t accidentally fall on the seat. In pidgin: “Eh, no worry. Da bruddah can find one way to eat any ting!” It’s all about the food in Hawaii. We always find a way to eat it. But, in California, it’s different. Oahu Shave Ice has tables and chairs inside and out. They have multiple shave ice machines so they can crank out tons of shave ice. They also mix their own flavors with lots of research to back it up.

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About Me

OC Food Diva is a local foodie in Orange County, CA with 11 years experience in restaurants - from kitchen to service to menu & restaurant design. With an adventurous appetite, Chelsea scours Orange County (and the rest of the USA) for great eats.